Airlines Ordered To Check Out Workers

November 28, 1985|By United Press International.

WASHINGTON — The government, prompted by recent hijackings, Wednesday ordered all U.S. commercial airlines and airports to check the background of any employee with access to security areas hired after Nov. 1.

In separate messages sent to the airlines and airports nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration said it will require that every applicant`s employment history in the last five years be checked ``to the extent necessary to assure that permitting them unescorted access to any area on the airport controlled for security reasons is appropriate.``

The FAA move followed a bloody hijacking and rescue last weekend that left 59 people dead.

An EgyptAir jet was commandeered over the Mediterranean Saturday on an Athens-to-Cairo flight and forced to land in Malta. Egyptian commandos stormed the jet Sunday night after a passenger was slain.

Authorities are unsure how or when weapons used by the hijackers were smuggled on board the airliner, and investigations are currently underway at Athens and Cairo airports. Suspicions center more on Cairo, where officials believed weapons were smuggled onto a TWA jet hijacked during the summer.

``Recent occurrences have demonstrated the need for this limited action to be taken immediately,`` the FAA message said of the background checks.

An FAA spokesman, however, said the issuance of the regulation ``should not be construed to mean we have any idea how weapons were gotten aboard over the weekend.``

``We have been looking at it for a while,`` the spokesman said. ``We had it under consideration before the hijacking.``

The spokesman said the new regulation, issued Wednesday, applies to employees who screen passengers and luggage and anybody else allowed access to controlled areas at airports.

The requirement, which also affects some commuter airlines, is effective

``no later than Dec. 15,`` the spokesman said, adding that airports or airlines violating the measure will be subject to fines of $1,000 for each violation.

The spokesman said airlines would be asked only to verify an applicant`s employment history and not look for any other kind of information.